U rn't paying attn: Stroudsburg High students learn dangers of texting while driving

Wednesday

Apr 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The game was simple: See how far you can drive while checking text messages without crashing.

ANDREW SCOTT

The game was simple: See how far you can drive while checking text messages without crashing.

As friends encouraged and teased him, Stroudsburg High School junior Sal Feliciano sat in the simulator set up by the National Save A Life Tour in the school gym Tuesday.

Feliciano took the wheel and began driving, watching the computer-animated road on a screen as simulated traffic passed him in the opposite direction.

He picked up the iPhone and began checking text messages, his eyes quickly moving back and forth between the texts and the road.

He somehow miraculously managed to drive through the entire simulation without crashing, whereas many of his classmates crashed within the first 30 seconds while checking texts.

While some might find it fun or even silly, the simulated game is meant to help teach a serious lesson about the dangers of distracted driving, one not lost on Feliciano.

"You really have to take care and pay full attention to the road while driving," said Feliciano, who doesn't yet have a driver's license. "You can't take anything for granted."

The simulation was part of a presentation by the National Save A Life Tour, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., and hosted Tuesday by Students Against Destructive Decisions' Stroudsburg High School chapter.

The tour visits high schools across the nation and talks to students about the importance of staying alert and focusing completely on the road when driving.

"I see more than half of you here are between ages 16 and 19, which means many of you in that age group are likely to be in a crash before you reach age 20," guest speaker Jonathan Saigeon told the 750 students at the presentation's afternoon session.

"Distracted driving is the No. 1 killer of teens, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

Saigeon, 34, shared his own story of being a passenger injured when his friend fell asleep at the wheel while both were returning from a long trip 10 years ago.

About 45 minutes from their homes, the car hit a construction sign and threw the unbuckled Saigeon's body forward into the dashboard and his head into the windshield.

"My friend was buckled, so he was fine," Saigeon said. "I had a lacerated spleen, internal bleeding and back muscle injuries. It's a miracle my spine was still intact. I spent four days in the hospital and the next three months in physical therapy."

His presentation partner, U.S. Marine veteran Emilio Hernandez, talked about having lost seven relatives within 10 years to distracted or drunken driving.

Like Saigeon's friend, one of Hernandez's relatives fell asleep at the wheel, while the other six were other drivers' victims.

"I do this for the same reason I joined the Marines, to help protect people," Hernandez said. "I don't want anyone else going through the pain I felt."

To further drive home the point, Saigeon and Hernandez presented a video showing graphic scenes of crashes caused by distracted driving that resulted in deaths and life-changing injuries.

Some students gasped and stared at scenes of blood and carnage, and wept at the emotional stories of loved ones left behind.

One teenager was killed when she crashed while checking a text from her sister. She was ejected and landed 300 feet from her vehicle. Another woman lost her daughter, who liked to "multi-task" while driving and was killed before her 19th birthday.

And a young man has been left brain-damaged for life after being a passenger injured while his friend was driving and texting at the same time.

"This video touched me," Stroudsburg High junior Francesca Provitera said. "My older brother almost died when a drunk driver hit him. He couldn't go to college as a result. He's still not the same."

The video also got to other students and parents alike, a few of whom likewise have suffered personal tragedies as a result of distracted or drunken driving.

"I was contacted about this and wanted to come be a part of it," said Eileen Miller of Scranton.

Her only son, University of Scranton student Paul Miller, 21, was killed when a tractor-trailer hit the Toyota he was driving July 5, 2010, on Route 33 in Hamilton Township.

Believed to have been using his cellphone at the time of the crash, tractor-trailer driver Jaswinder Singh, 31, of Parlin, N.J., pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced in March to 12 to 36 months in state prison.

"These kids have so much ahead of them," said Miller, now herself an advocate against distracted driving. "It would be a shame for any of them to throw their futures away because they'd rather text or put on makeup while driving, instead of pulling over or having a passenger check their texts. If even just one life can be saved by presentations like this, then it's worth it."